Other Alternative Energy

Besides the well-known alternative energy categories such as
wind/solar energy and biofuels/biodiesel, alternative energy also
includes chemically stored electricity in batteries, capacitors, and
fuel cells that could be made with some or all renewable materials.
Researchers at ISTC have worked on batteries and supercapacitors for
energy storage using renewable or waste materials. For additional
information on renewable energy, visit the United States Environmental
Protection Agency's page on Renewable Energy.

One of ISTC's previous projects
was using biochar (pyrolized biomass) as the carbon source for the
electrodes in supercapacitors. The top two diagrams show a schematic of a
(a) biochar mini-chunk and (c) thin-film supercapacitor, and the bottom
photos show low-resolution scanning electron microscope images of a (b)
biochar mini-chunk and (d) thin-film electrode.